Casey Classic: No. 1 RBC Wins a 29-28 Thriller Over No. 2 Holmdel
RED BANK – It was billed as the regular-season game of the year in the Shore Conference, and it lived up to every bit of it.
Red Bank Catholic, ranked No. 1 in the Shore Sports Insider Top 12, held on to win a 29-28 thriller over No. 2 Holmdel in a Class A North game that came down to the final two minutes at Count Basie Field on Friday night.
“We’re a great team. They’re a great team. And we just went toe to toe with one of the best,” RBC senior wide receiver Daniel Zabora said. “They had our respect before we even played them. They’re a great football team.”
“I think it was the two best teams in the Shore,” Caseys head coach Mike Lange said. “I think it was one of those things where no matter which way it went, both teams will build off it and make a hell of a run (in the state playoffs).”
Zabora finished with six catches for 109 yards and a touchdown, freshman running back Gabe Kemp rolled up 185 yards rushing and a touchdown on 23 carries, and freshman quarterback Rahmir Rivera finished 15-for-19 for 201 yards, two touchdowns and a two-point conversion pass, while also running for a score to power the Caseys (5-0, 3-0). Freshman kicker Simon Picinich went 3-for-3 on extra points that proved crucial.
RBC freshman Gabe Kemp ran for 185 yards and a touchdown in the victory. (Photo by @JerseyMike_Sports)
Holmdel superstar Jack Cannon threw for 215 yards and a touchdown on 20-for-25 passing and ran for 85 yards and three touchdowns in the loss to continue his brilliant season.
The teams combined for 760 yards of offense and 38 first downs and neither team turned the ball over once.
The Hornets (3-1, 2-1) scored on a 2-yard keeper by Cannon to get within 29-28 with 2:39 left in the game, but the extra point was wide right to keep the Caseys in front. Senior Curtis O’Brien recovered the ensuing onside kick for RBC, and then Kemp put the game away with a first-down run with Holmdel down to its last timeout.
“I think they’ll respect us after this one,” Holmdel coach Noel Kavanagh said. “I think our kids played really hard, and they’ve been doing that all season. And that’s a really excellent football team. It was a battle back and forth.
“I think we had a couple opportunities that I would like back that we missed. Everyone who looks on the side they’re going to see an extra point missed at the end, but there’s other opportunities. I think we could’ve played better. I think we could’ve beat them. But when it’s all said and done, this is where we’re at.”
Kavanagh flirted with the idea of going for a go-ahead two-point conversion after the score by Cannon inside three minutes to go.
Holmdel senior quarterback Jack Cannon was outstanding in defeat, throwing for a touchdown and running for three more. (Photo by @JerseyMike_Sports)
“Absolutely yes, there was,” he said about considering the conversion. “There was still three minutes left in the game, and I didn’t want to go for two there because I felt like we had momentum, and I felt like in overtime we could win the game. And it was just unfortunate. That happens. Sometimes in life you think it’s the right call, and you look back on it and everyone’s like, ‘Oh man, what a bad call,’ but I wanted to give our kids a chance to continue to play with momentum.”
The game was back and forth from the outset as a Holmdel offense that entered averaging 43.3 points per game met a Caseys defense that had only given up 15 total points in four games.
Holmdel Takes a Halftime Lead Behind Cannon
RBC stopped Holmdel on the opening drive of the game thanks to a third-down sack by junior defensive end Lorenzo Tartamella, who is a Holmdel resident. The Caseys then drove 67 yards in 16 plays, scoring on a one-yard keeper by Rivera for a 7-0 lead with 2:36 left in the first quarter.
The Caseys forced another punt, but Cannon, who is also the punter, pinned RBC at its own 1-yard line. Holmdel then energized its sideline when senior defensive lineman Luke Schiess sacked Rivera for a six-yard loss in the end zone for a safety to get the Hornets on the board.
Holmdel rode that momentum to the lead when it took the kick from the safety and drove 56 yards in 12 plays, scoring on a two-yard pass from Cannon to tight end Carmine Aliperti. An attempted two-point conversion run failed to keep the score at 8-7 with 4:18 left in the half.
RBC answered with a five-play, 65-yard drive highlighted by a 20-yard catch by sophomore wideout Jason Berecsky and then a 27-yard catch-and-run by Berecsky for a touchdown that made it 14-8 with 2:42 left in the half.
That was still enough time for the relentless Cannon to give the Hornets the lead back. He scored on a sensational, zigzagging run of 52 yards to put Holmdel in front 15-14 at the break.
“He’s a do-it-all type quarterback,” Zabora said about Cannon. “He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the state. It’s hard stopping him. He’s my friend, I work out with him in the offseason. He’s a hell of a player.”
It marked the first time RBC trailed at the half all year.
“It was adversity that we hadn’t seen, which was good for a young team,” Lange said.
RBC Fights Back
The Caseys came out hot to start the second half, driving 73 yards in only seven plays to score on a 14-yard strike on the run from Rivera to Zabora. Rivera then found junior tight end T.J. Walsh for a two-point conversion and a 22-15 lead with 9:40 left in the third quarter. The big play on the drive was a 29-yard completion from Rivera to Zabora, an Air Force recruit who had his second straight 100-yard receiving game.
Holmdel answered with an 11-play, 80-yard drive highlighted by a 21-yard completion from Cannon to sophomore wideout Anthony Serini. Cannon was consistently evading the rush, leaving would-be RBC tacklers grasping at air to keep the play alive.
“There were times we had them dead, but he keeps his eyes up,” Lange said. “There’s not many quarterbacks that do that in high school. When they see pressure they usually tuck it, and that was the pain of it (with Cannon).”
Cannon capped the drive by stretching the ball over the goal line for a 2-yard touchdown, and then senior Brandon Mueller added the extra point to tie the game at 22 with 4:16 left in the third quarter.
An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty short-circuited RBC’s next drive, giving Holmdel the ball back with a chance to take the lead. The Hornets drove 44 yards to the RBC 9-yard line, but the Caseys made one of their biggest defensive stands of the season when junior cornerback Kieran McGonnell broke up a pass on fourth down to keep the game tied.
RBC junior Kieran McGonnell celebrates breaking up a pass for a clutch fourth-down stop at the Caseys’ 9-yard line. (Photo by @JerseyMike_Sports)
RBC seized that momentum and went 91 yards in only five plays. Kemp sped up the middle for a 48-yard touchdown to draw a roar from the home crowd and put the Caseys in front 29-22 after Picinich’s extra point.
“My dad always told me to be patient,” Kemp said. “It’s not always going to come on the first run, the second run, not even the first half. It might come in the second half, so don’t get mad, don’t get frustrated and just be patient.
“They kept slanting the opposite, so if I was lined up left, they would go right, and I just knew the cutback was going to be open. Being patient, I just took it, and the hole was wide open.”
“He’s always able to pop one,” Zabora said. “He’s that type of runner.”
Holmdel wasn’t going down without a fight, driving 80 yards in 12 plays, with Cannon going 5-for-6 passing for 75 yards before scoring on his keeper to get within 29-28.
That’s the way it would end, as RBC took a big step toward winning the Class A North title. The Caseys can clinch at least a tie for the division crown by beating No. 3 Rumson-Fair Haven, their archrival, on Oct. 10.
“It was a good building block for where we’re going,” Lange said. “(Kavanagh) is a great coach. They had us off balance a lot. I respect the hell out of them.”
Box Score
Red Bank Catholic 29, Holmdel 28
| Holmdel | RBC | |
| First downs | 20 | 18 |
| Rushes-yards | 28-130 | 30-192 |
| Passing | 21-26-0 | 15-19-0 |
| Passing yards | 237 | 201 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-yards | 4-20 | 7-61 |
| Holmdel (3-1, 2-1) | 0 | 15 | 7 | 6 | 28 |
| RB Catholic (5-0, 3-0) | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 29 |
Scoring Summary
R — Rivera 1-yard run (Picinich kick).
H — Schiess sack in the end zone for safety
H — Aliperti 14-yard pass from Cannon (run failed).
R — Berecsky 27-yard pass from Rivera (Picinich kick).
H — Cannon 52-yard run (Mueller kick).
R — Zabora 14-yard pass from Rivera (Walsh pass from Rivera).
H — Cannon 2-yard run (Mueller kick).
R — Kemp 48-yard run (Picinich kick).
H — Cannon 2-yard run (kick failed).
Individual Statistics
RUSHING — H: Cannon 18-85, Scheinman 5-33, Murphy 1-(-9), Todisco 2-7, Serini 2-13, P. Berardi 1-1. R: Kemp 23-185, Rivera 6-(-1), Walsh 1-8.
PASSING — H: Cannon 20-25-0 215, Todisco 1-1-0 22 . R: Rivera 15-19-0 201.
RECEIVING – H: Serini 5-81, Scheinman 4-71, Aliperti 3-20, Todisco 6-34, Murphy 3-31. R: Zabora 6-109, Berecsky 7-74, O’Neal 2-18.
INTERCEPTIONS — None.
Scott Stump is the football editor and a reporter for Shore Sports Insider. He first started covering Shore Conference football in 1999 and has covered basketball, baseball and seemingly every other Shore Conference sport at some point.
Email: scottstump25@gmail.com
